Rather Home Care 169-171 Queens Crescent

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

People and those important to them received support to understand safeguarding procedures and how to raise concerns when feeling unsafe. Staff understood their duty to protect people from abuse and knew how and when to report any concerns. Managers promptly reported raised concerns to relevant agencies and worked proactively to safeguard individuals from further risk. Managers and staff assessed and reviewed risks, involving people and their significant others in making decisions regarding their support to stay safe. There were enough staff to support people. The provider had a robust plan in place to cover for urgent service needs. Staff were supported through supervision and appraisal to continuously learn and improve their practice. The service conducted thorough recruitment checks to ensure only suitable and qualified staff were employed to provide support at the service. During our assessment of this key question, we found a concern around how the provider assessed the environment of a person and we made a recommendation. You can find more details of our concern in the evidence category findings below.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Learning culture during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Safe systems, pathways and transitions during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

People told us that they felt safe with the care staff. People told us they were aware of how to raise any concerns and where they had done this, the management team had responded appropriately. People told us receiving care by a consistent team made a difference to how they felt about their care. A relative of a person who uses the service told us, "We are very happy with the service. The regular care workers are like our family so [there is] no issue of safety."

Staff were aware of how to escalate any concerns within the organisation and were very confident in the organisations systems to keep people safe. A staff member told us, " People are very safe. Safeguarding has to do with all my actions to prevent abuse. If I have a concern, I speak to management immediately and they inform the right people."

The provider had policies and procedures in place in relation to safeguarding and whistle-blowing and provided staff with training to ensure that they could respond appropriately to any concerns. Concerns were reported by the management team which included reporting to the local authority safeguarding team and making statutory notifications to CQC.

People and their relatives told us they were involved in the care planning and their views regarding managing risks were documented. A person told us, "My social worker was also involved with my care plan and it is reviewed every few months." A relative of a person using the service told us, “I was involved with the care plan when we began using the agency and it is all documented in a folder. That is what the staff look at to see what [my relative's] needs are. ”

When individuals begin using the service, a senior staff member evaluates them, and any potential risks are documented in their care plans. Risk assessments are then conducted to address and minimize these risks. A senior manager told us, "Safety is our top priority. We highlight this as early as at the stage of assessment when we try to involve people and people's families as much as possible."

The service had policies and procedures in place to ensure people's own input and involvement in their care, such as Service user care planning policy and procedure and Complaints, suggestions and compliments policy and procedure. The service was conducting an annual survey to gather people's feedback. These records demonstrated one area where staff acknowledged they needed to work on further and documented overall improvement. The service also sought feedback from people who did not have access to the internet in appropriate ways.

There were systems in place to ensure people lived in a safe environment. We saw evidence of regular spot checks which included observations regarding staff usage of PPE and cleaning levels. A detailed infection, prevention and control policy was in place to support staff to keep people safe. People told us they felt safe in their own homes while being supported by staff who knew them well. Care records contained equipment maintenance records and information relating to environmental risks within people's homes. This enabled staff to keep people safe. When we reviewed the records for a person who smoked, we noticed the risks and preventive actions around smoking were not included in the environmental risk assessment. We brought this to the manager’s attention, and they provided evidence there was consideration for this. We recommend the provider includes further details of environmental risks in people’s care plans to ensure staff have access to information mitigating associated hazards for people.

People felt staff were trained and were confident in their role. A person told us, “They are knowledgeable about what they are doing. They stay the whole hour and no rush.” Some people told us they were not always informed new staff would be introduced but they would always be accompanied by a staff member people had met before.

Staff felt they had the right level of training to carry out their role safely and effectively and received on-going support from management.

The provider followed a safe and robust recruitment process. We saw recruitment records that included completed applications and interview forms, detailed work history for new staff, references and verified ID and ‘Right to work’ documentation. The provider had carried out a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on candidates as part of their recruitment process. A DBS check is a way for employers to check a staff members criminal record, to help decide whether they are a suitable person to work for them. The provider had a training matrix which evidenced staff were receiving training to support them to safely and effectively carry out their role. Management and staff told us the training was a mix of online and in person training sessions delivered by professionals of different backgrounds such as medical.

We did not look at Infection prevention and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Medicines optimisation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.